1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to utility carts and hand trucks. More particularly, the present invention relates to easily assembled and low cost convertible beach carts adaptable for a wide variety of uses including as beach furniture. Preferred embodiments include a hand truck comprising (i) a body having secondary use as a table, (ii) a load platform having secondary use as an extended surface of the table, and (iii) a rack having secondary use as support legs for the table.
2. Description of Related Art
Many people enjoy recreational activities. However, many of these recreational activities require that various accessories be brought along so that one can further enhance that particular recreational activity. One common experience shared by nearly everyone is the recreational activity of spending a day at the beach. Many that do enjoy a day at the beach seem to bring with them all sorts of accessory items. Some of these beach accessories usually include beach bags, towels and blankets, chairs, tables, beach toys, sports equipment, paperback books, extra clothing, umbrellas, coolers filled with food and drinks, etc. The burden of transporting all of these accessories to the beach can quickly become an overwhelming task when more than one trip is required. Conventional prior art solutions used to accomplish this task of transporting these types of accessories are the use of bags, backpacks and even utility carts. One common disadvantage shared with nearly all of the conventional wheeled prior art solutions is that in order to carry large objects like beach furniture, these solutions tend to be rather large and difficult to maneuver or carry on uneven surfaces such as sandy beaches.
Most conventional carts used to date have rectangular bodies with four walls configured to carry items and materials therein. Four wheels usually support the conventional cart. A handle is typically provided so that the cart can be rolled manually by pulling on the handle. It is also commonly known to rotatably mount the front wheels on an axle that is rotatably mounted to the bottom of the cart body. The handle is then mounted to the axle and the cart can be steered by pulling the handle in any desired steering direction, thereby rotating the front axle and aligning the front wheels in that direction. The conventional cart, however, presents a number of problems and shortcomings. Conventional carts fail to provide a means for organizing the various accessories transported by these carts so that the user may conveniently and safely gain access to each accessory. Conventional carts also often have little more than one open chamber where all of the items to be transported are placed, and it is difficult to place large objects in such a compartment unless the cart is very large itself and without damaging other items. If the carts are not large, then they fail to provide an adequate surface on which a user can arrange and manipulate certain items and materials. Conventional carts also fail to provide a convenient means for decontaminating or cleaning the cart other than the means of flooding the storage chamber with soap and water and turning the cart upside down so that the dirt or sand may drain. Often they are made of materials that deteriorate in challenging weather conditions such as exposure to salt water and extreme heat commonly found at the beach. Therefore, the prior art carts all have significant limitations, as discussed above.
Other means for transporting items to the beach include hand trucks. Such hand trucks usually comprise an upright body similar to that of a utility dolly with two wheels at the base and a handle bar. Objects are hung on the hand truck on racks or placed on the load platform near the wheels and pushed or pulled through the sand using the wheels. Some of the prior art hand trucks have load bearing platforms that collapse against the direction of the load it is designed to carry in order to fold up against the body of the hand truck for convenient storage. Such hand trucks are usually configured for resisting or preventing folding of the load platform away from the hand truck body past 90 degrees, as such a configuration would typically lead to failure of the platform under the load. Other such hand trucks are not balanced properly to resist tip over when standing upright with a load. Some hand trucks have too narrow a base (are more than two times taller than the base is wide), which may lead to the hand truck tipping over, especially when carrying a top heavy load. Although it would be preferred to have a wider base, such configurations are often not used because it adds to the bulky nature of the cart, which reduces its appeal and applicability in certain situations requiring a narrow profile. Furthermore, wheels are usually disposed on the hand truck body or only slightly away from the body so that heavy loads are easier to maneuver. For example, with the wheels near the axis of rotation of the hand truck body less effort is required to tip the hand truck back toward the user and into a position for transporting the load. This configuration, however, further increases the risk of tip over especially with top heavy loads.
There exist some hand trucks with multiple uses, however, there is no hand truck that is configured for transporting a load in an upright or semi-reclined position and then which is configured for use as a table in a completely reclined position. For example, known multi-use hand trucks include those which provide for transportation of a load in a semi-reclined position and for seating in a fully upright position. Other multi-use hand trucks include those with a load platform which doubles as a work surface, but the size of the work surface is limited by the size of the load platform, which is usually small to keep the overall profile of the hand truck streamlined. The inventor has found a way to keep the overall profile of the hand truck at a minimum but which maximizes the amount of available table space.
From the above discussion it is apparent that what is desired is a beach cart for transporting beach paraphernalia that also functions as a sturdy table to minimize the amount of supplies needing transport for an enjoyable day at the beach. None of the prior art carts or hand trucks address the plurality of needs that might be encountered when using a beach cart, such as the various needs associated with space, durability, reliability, multi-functionality, and ease of movement on the beach. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved beach cart that is capable of meeting these needs.